Tight Calves
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- sim-o
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Tight Calves
Postby sim-o » Wed Sep 22, 2010 10:54 am
I realise that the best solution is to go see a physio/doctor, but before I do that I'll raise the question to see if there's anything plain and silly I am overlooking...
I get very tight calf muscles most notably when running, but it's now also noticeable as I'm increasing my cycling km's. When running it builds up slowly and after about 3-4km I need to stop. By then my calves have gone to rock hard levels of tightness and each step is painful. Also, last night on my 26km commute home on the bike, I noticed that my calves became tighter as the ride went on. By the end of the ride they felt like they were going to cramp/seize up. So, I took it easy and ended up averaging a mere 22km/h :/.
Over the last 3-4 weeks I've been trying to increase my stretching after every run and every ride, however there seems to be no change in the muscle tightness.
My cleat position is actually fairly mid-footed, which I thought may be causing the issue. However, after reading around on this forum and other sites, it seems mid-foot positing is better for calf muscles?!?
My seat height could be a slight bit too low; I never reach 100% full extension, there's still a small angle (10-20 degrees) between upper/lower leg at the bottom of the stroke.
Also, with the running I'm a mid foot/slightly forefoot lander, which I find to be easiest on the lower legs in general. I never had any problems with running until after I began cycling.
Any ideas to the cause and potential solutions? I should just go and book the physio shouldn't I...
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby casual_cyclist » Wed Sep 22, 2010 11:20 am
I do massage and yoga for my calves. I massage mine with a closed fist. It hurts but seems to help.
I also find that a couple of yoga poses are great for stretching calves... try downward facing dog:
Standing forward bend (I do the one on the left and watch your lower back):
Seated forward bend. Again, keep your lower back flat and don't bend forward with your lower back:
And my most hated pose - Extended Triangle Pose:
- Chops
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby Chops » Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:12 pm
What is your pedalling action like? I have quite a pronounced toe down technique which can give me the shits at time when it comes to calf pain.
- sim-o
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby sim-o » Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:35 pm
I'm definitely not heel striking, I'm landing on the forefoot/midfoot as I find that much more comfortable and less harsh.
My pedalling action is absolutely toe down (probably about 45 degrees or more toe down), which is pretty much enforced by the mid-foot cleat position I have. I'm thinking that if I move the cleat forward on the shoe under the ball of my foot, then I'd be able to reduce that angle a bit to a more flatter foot? What do you think?
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby lethoso » Wed Sep 22, 2010 6:20 pm
I think if you move the cleat forward you'll use your calves more not less.sim-o wrote:I'm thinking that if I move the cleat forward on the shoe under the ball of my foot, then I'd be able to reduce that angle a bit to a more flatter foot? What do you think?
I get stupid tight calves when I run (as in I can barely walk), thing that I find helps the most is getting something round like a wine bottle (though if you have something a bit squishy like a foam roller, pool noodle or half a camping mat rolled up that might be better) and sticking it between my calf and thigh and kneeling down gradually letting my weight sit settle on it. Shift up/down to cover the whole length of your calf. Hurts a bit while you do it, but great relief
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby flammer » Wed Sep 22, 2010 9:10 pm
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- Apple
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby Apple » Wed Sep 22, 2010 9:18 pm
Flammer, get a job or buy a bikeflammer wrote:At first I thought it was a wanted add. You know, young fellow has moved away from the farm and misses the action.
Speak your mind,Those that mind dont matter, Those that matter dont mind!!
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby mikesbytes » Wed Sep 22, 2010 9:34 pm
Difficult to analyse over the internet, but I say that your toe down action could be part of the problem.sim-o wrote:My pedalling action is absolutely toe down (probably about 45 degrees or more toe down), which is pretty much enforced by the mid-foot cleat position I have. I'm thinking that if I move the cleat forward on the shoe under the ball of my foot, then I'd be able to reduce that angle a bit to a more flatter foot? What do you think?
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby Chops » Wed Sep 22, 2010 11:12 pm
Depends. I prefer to move the cleat forward because my ankle flexibility is so poor that the extra length gives me much more leverage for a toe up (or in my case, closer to neutral) position.lethoso wrote:I think if you move the cleat forward you'll use your calves more not less.sim-o wrote:I'm thinking that if I move the cleat forward on the shoe under the ball of my foot, then I'd be able to reduce that angle a bit to a more flatter foot? What do you think?
But I'm no expert on this. Just something that has worked for me personally.
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby scotto » Thu Sep 23, 2010 8:47 am
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzxKkqX7 ... re=related[/youtube]
- sim-o
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby sim-o » Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:25 am
I would have thought that sheep would be more appropriate, since I was born in NZ after all .Apple wrote:flammer wrote:At first I thought it was a wanted add. You know, young fellow has moved away from the farm and misses the action.
...
As for the bike, my new pedals and cleats arrived last night from chainreaction, so while I was installing those I went and re-checked my entire bike setup. It turns out that my seat was too far back and too low. So, I've made some corrections and I did some initial testing on the trainer + a quick road test. I also moved the cleats forward on the shoe a teeny bit, so my ball is over the pedal axle. It definitely feels like I can fully extend my legs now, whereas before they felt restricted.
I'm riding home today, so I'll see if the tightness/cramping persists.
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- hannos
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby hannos » Thu Sep 23, 2010 11:01 am
That's fix you up.
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby casual_cyclist » Thu Sep 23, 2010 12:00 pm
I found mine extremely painful though. But yeah, it did help.hannos wrote:Remedial massage
That's fix you up.
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby Dahondude » Thu Sep 23, 2010 12:34 pm
Yep you should look up Steve Hogg's bike fit advice. My understanding is that the further back your saddle is, the more you engage your hammies and calves leading to muscle issues in those two areas. Steve recommends setting up seat fore/aft such that you can take your hands off your bars (when in the hoods or drops) and still keep your body in the same position (ie you dont fall forward onto your hands) - basically your bum is far enough back that it acts as a cantilever for your upper body. If you have your seat too far forward you over engage your quads and thus get sore quads after a ride.scotto wrote:As for the bike, my new pedals and cleats arrived last night from chainreaction, so while I was installing those I went and re-checked my entire bike setup. It turns out that my seat was too far back and too low. So, I've made some corrections and I did some initial testing on the trainer + a quick road test. I also moved the cleats forward on the shoe a teeny bit, so my ball is over the pedal axle. It definitely feels like I can fully extend my legs now, whereas before they felt restricted.
Ive followed Steve's advice (ball of foot forward of pedal axis, seat far enough back to pass the "balance test") and it made a real difference to how my legs feel after a long hard ride.
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- sim-o
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby sim-o » Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:02 pm
That's good advice, and it makes sense because it would eliminate/reduce any strain on your arms/wrists/hands aswell, and therefore more comfortable.Dahondude wrote:... Steve recommends setting up seat fore/aft such that you can take your hands off your bars (when in the hoods or drops) and still keep your body in the same position (ie you dont fall forward onto your hands) - basically your bum is far enough back that it acts as a cantilever for your upper body...
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- flammer
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby flammer » Thu Sep 23, 2010 7:32 pm
Ozzie farm boys think that it's degrading to get down on your knees for an animal.sim-o wrote:
I would have thought that sheep would be more appropriate, since I was born in NZ after all .
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby ash5584 » Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:20 pm
Could be a chronic compartment syndrome (google it for details). Check with a sports medicine clinic (if one is available near you), they can do an exercise based test to check if the muscle compartments in your lower leg are tight due to anatomical reasons. If no sports med clinic, your GP can review you and maybe refer you to see an orthopaedic surgeon for the same test.
Cheers
Ash
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby casual_cyclist » Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:04 pm
I have had MRI scans on my shins. I don't have compartment syndrome. I was worried about it when I had the scans though. But all clear thankfully.ash5584 wrote:Just a quick thought... from the medical side of things... if your pain is persisting...
Could be a chronic compartment syndrome (google it for details). Check with a sports medicine clinic (if one is available near you), they can do an exercise based test to check if the muscle compartments in your lower leg are tight due to anatomical reasons. If no sports med clinic, your GP can review you and maybe refer you to see an orthopaedic surgeon for the same test.
Cheers
Ash
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby uncle arthur » Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:22 pm
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby trailgumby » Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:31 pm
Aarghh! The thought of calves cramping while on the swim leguncle arthur wrote:I find the best relief for tight calves is chinese cupping combined with deep tissue massage. being in preparation for Noosa (tri) my calves are almost always tight these days.....
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby sim-o » Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:21 pm
The calf pain was even worse last Thursday on my ride home after making the setup adjustments. As I was riding it felt with each pedal that the muscle just wanted to seize up and cramp. Then on Saturday I went for a gentle walk for an hour or so, and by the end of it my left calf was cramping and sore, so I think it's pretty obvious that there's an injury of some sort going on.
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby Tim » Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:57 pm
Too complicated. Vaseline.
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby Downhill » Sun Oct 10, 2010 11:15 pm
Are you warming up prior to stretching, and warming down again after exercising?
Which stretching exercises are you using?
You also mentioned cramping. Are you keeping the fluids up during exercise?
Any muscle burn while you're cycling, and are any muscles other than your calves also affected?
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- sim-o
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby sim-o » Mon Oct 11, 2010 11:45 am
It pretty much comes down to a crappy setup on the bike, so it's my own stupid fault , I should have had a proper setup instead of doing it myself. Although the cleats looked identical to me, even if they were off a little bit it could disrupt the symmetry whilst pedaling.
I've switched to toeclip pedals temporarily until the issue is resolved and until I can get a proper setup.
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Re: Tight Calves
Postby BarryTas » Fri Oct 15, 2010 11:50 am
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